This invention relates to digital signal recording method and recording media. More specifically, the present invention relates to a digital signal recording method to record the main data which is the primary data together with additional or auxiliary information and the recording media on which the data are recorded.
Generally, in a digital signal recording method for recording digital signals on a recording medium, digital signals are chronologically combined or synthesized on a data block basis and recorded on each of the tracks of the recording medium. It is also a common practice that digital signals of additional or auxiliary information, such as a time code or the time and date of the recording or even source information, be recorded on a region of a track isolated from the region where the main data, the primary information, is recorded.
Recently, there are increasing numbers of source data such as digital television broadcasts and also there are a number of signals containing additional or auxiliary information, besides those mentioned above, such as a cassette ID which identifies a cassette tape, a program index number, a television channel number, a title, or information about each program.
When recording the main data, consisting of a plurality of programs to record, all of these data in the uniform format of a conventional technique must be recorded within a predetermined region by specifying the recording position for each program and the like in advance. This limits the number of available programs which are determined by the format specification. Also, when recording fewer programs than those that are predetermined, different data cannot be recorded within the remaining, unused areas. This is not a cost-effective use of a recording medium. In addition, there is another problem in that the bits allocated to a limited region may be insufficient to record a large variety and amount of auxiliary information.